'Centre will implement special package for Wayanad'; Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman informs KV Thomas

NEW DELHI: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has informed Kerala's Special Representative in Delhi Prof KV Thomas that the Central package for the Wayanad disaster will be approved and implemented in a time-bound manner.
Sitharaman said a high-level team of officials visited Wayanad and interacted with people, including the state chief secretary, and submitted the report to a sub-committee comprising the home minister, finance minister and agriculture minister. Detailed reports from the Kerala government have also been received. Special central assistance to be given to Wayanad will be announced soon after examining these reports.

In a meeting in Parliament, the Union Minister assured that central assistance for land acquisition of national highways and assistance for the Vizhinjam project will be made available soon.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that the Centre is taking a stand of deceiving the people in the Wayanad tragedy. He was inaugurating the Koothuparamba Martyrs' Memorial.

"Centre was not ready to declare Wayanad as a severe disaster. The Prime Minister said that the centre would help. We went to Delhi and asked for help again but they didn't do anything. The Centre says that the money can be withdrawn from the Disaster Management Fund. Everyone is saying that if it is taken, the Centre will give it back. There are criteria to use it. There is no provision for the Centre to return the money. Kerala is not begging, it is asking for its right."